Students: WHAT do you eat?

I'm posting this for all the students out there who do not live with their parents, who do not eat at the cafeteria of their University and who do not have a roommate: WHAT do you guys eat for lunch and dinner?

Basically, the first semester I mixed between spaghetti, steak, rice, chicken, eggs and caned vegetables but I CANNOT eat any of these things anymore as that's all I ate everyday.I used to cook the meat and stuff plain and I go so sick of it that I tried adding sauces (already made) at the store but I get sick over it after using it like two or three times. I'm a horrible cook and I cannot spend time on inventing recipes or stuff like that and eating outside becomes expensive everyday.

There are several topics on that in this category. Search for them and you will find plenty of advice.

Cooking is not difficult. You take stuff, put it on heat, and let it become edible.

Go to Walmart, buy those frozen vegetables from Great Value that are like $1/ lb or somewhere around that.

You can make omelets: put a cup of those vegetables on medium heat with the lid on so they can become more tender. Take two eggs, some milk, two tablespoon of a flour you like, some salt and pepper, any other garnishes like dill or rosemary or thyme or lemon juice or cheese, meats, etc. Many options. Mix everything together and put it in a pan with oil in it. After you no longer see liquid on top, flip it over and cook the other side.

Then eat it just as omelet or you can put it between bread, or you can make a salad out of it, or you can boil rice or quinoa and eat the two together. This can be lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

Look up recipes for soups from lentils or beans or vegetables and freeze them. Use allrecipes.com They have reviews where you can read what other people tried and what worked and what didn't work. Make chile and freeze it. You can reheat both of these and and they actually taste better that way.

Experiment, cooking is not difficult. Put stuff on heat with some salt and pepper and whatnot and let it become edible.

Look up recipes for food you eat outside and then try them at home. After the second or third try you will be able to make them taste about as well as the restaurants.

Make lasagna and freeze it and reheat it. Follow the recipe that is written on the container for Ricotta cheese. The resulting lasagna tastes so good!

I'm going back to school and have been thinking really hard on this topic. My current diet takes a lot of prep time, something that I may not have once I start school. I hope I can maintain my 'healthy lifestyle'.

Egg-drop ramen (drop a couple eggs in boiling ramen) - super good, though watch the calories.Rice and beans (black and red varieties - yum).McD's or Burger king bugers. (Perfectly good for you if you watch your overall calorie intake)Oatmeal. Oatmeal. Oatmeal.Protein powder - casein and whey (can make anything, e.g. bag of sun chips - into a well rounded meal)

Oh, dumpster diving can be a lot of fun and yield awesome things if you're cool enough for it. ;)Canned chicken breast and a bit of mayo and pepper.Non-pork sausage.

Basically, anything that comes out to under $1 per 200Calories. And that fits within my daily calorie limits and meets my mix of protein/carb/fat needs. (I'd shoot for at least 1/4 of your calories coming from each group.)

my go to meal for school is 1 package of kraft dinner and 600g lean ground beef and cream cheese. makes 2 servings, great for bulking. Add other stuff to it for some variety like, baby spinach, chopped sun dried tomatoes, mixed frozen or fresh veggies.

you can also do brown rice, chopped up chicken, veggies. just stir fry everything you eat haha.

edit: just looked at your profile, if you're only 123 pounds right now the above may make you rather chubbers lol.

Make lasagna and freeze it and reheat it. Follow the recipe that is written on the container for Ricotta cheese. The resulting lasagna tastes so good!

Uhm... why should there be a recipe for lasagne on the container of ricotta, considering that it's not an ingredient? -.-?

Sorry, this doesn't have anything to do with the main topic

I put ricotta cheese in lasagna. I also use the recipe that is on the container of ricotta cheese. The container has a red top, it's a popular brand but I forget the name. To make the process simpler, I mix the eggs, ricotta, and mozarella cheese in one container, and tomato sauce and brown ground bee in one container and just spoon it between layers of pasta. On the top layer, I sprinkle mozarella cheese.

Buy the cheap store brand frozen vegetables, not canned(often have high salt and are more expensive). Potatoes are cheap and can be eaten in various ways.

Buy the meat on sale.

Buy beans and lentil in bulk. The day before you cook them soak them in water in 3:1 water:beans/lentils. When you cook them, follow the instructions on the package. They can be froze and used in lots of things.

Also a recipe for rice pilau(recipe is for around 7-10 servings:

You will need a pan of about 2.5 quarts. Use long grain rice and not the minute rice. I buy basmati rice from a Pakistani/Indian store here. It's around $15 for 10 lbs. It's more expensive than other rice, but it tastes better and the grains are so long!

If you cook two or three cups of rice, this will last you one meal everyday for a week. A general rule is to double the amount of water for each cup of rice. Soak this rice in water for until you are ready to eat.

Take a cup of oil and heat it in a pan on medium heat. Thinly slice inch long pieces a cup of onion-usually about half a large onion, and brown it, but don't burn it. You can also add half tablespoon of minced ginger and garlic and some herbs if you like. Add a tablespoon of salt or however much you like. You can also 1-2 cups of brown ground meat or vegetables here.

Turn on your oven to about 250F.

Add 4 to 6 cups of water to the pan and boil it on high heat with the lid on it. This should take about 15 minutes or so. Add rice to it so that it piles. If the pile of rice is about an inch higher than the water level, you have a good ratio of water to rice.

Stir and cook on medium heat until water level is equal to rice and continue stirring. Stay near then pan and stir every few minutes or so, this only takes around 10 minutes. Then put the pan in the oven for around 15 minutes. Take it out and eat it with yogurt. You can put mint paste in the yogurt. It tastes good.

- Pasta with chicken, and a home made sauce that is prob not too good for you ! (pesto, cooking cream or philadelphia, chopped tomatoes and some spice)

- Pasta Bake

- Curry dishes, curry, tikka masala etc

- Scrambled/boiled eggs with toast.

- Huge monster sandwiches.

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Stir fry with rice or noodles - beef/chicken and loads of veg. Garlic as main flavour, or a little soya sauce. If using rice, i like to add egg... kinda like chicken fried rice with vegs.

Cook in bulk and spread over a few days or freeze, currys, bolognese , lasagna, stew, are all handy for that, and still taste good.

Someone mentioned above about frozen veg, I hate usually cause they can taste very watery/soggie. but the Sweet corn and peas are usually decent.

You should deffo get some spices (if you dont already), simple and effective to add most of the time to anything. I mainly use... Garlic, mixed herbs, curry powder, paprika, salt, black pepper. what ever takes your fancy just through it in !

another idea is pita bread brushed with olive oil baked with cheese. GREAT SNACK!

makes hot sandwiches.. grilled sandwiches like panini's. sweet potatoes are another cheap great eat. bake them or make fries out of them.

thing is i don't even know how to make a salad…i mean, i get that u have to cut the vegetables and all but how do u make dressing? and i mean if i buy a jar of mustard and just use one spoon for the dressing won't it spoil after a week? it's such a waste no?

Ruskach saidI'm posting this for all the students out there who do not live with their parents, who do not eat at the cafeteria of their University and who do not have a roommate: WHAT do you guys eat for lunch and dinner?

Basically, the first semester I mixed between spaghetti, steak, rice, chicken, eggs and caned vegetables but I CANNOT eat any of these things anymore as that's all I ate everyday.I used to cook the meat and stuff plain and I go so sick of it that I tried adding sauces (already made) at the store but I get sick over it after using it like two or three times. I'm a horrible cook and I cannot spend time on inventing recipes or stuff like that and eating outside becomes expensive everyday.

So…WHAT do u guys eat, what sauces do u use etc…

EASY STUFF PLEASE

EDIT: my budget is around 100$ per week which i feel is quite tight

What to do, and what I do, to save time and money both, is at the weekend maybe Sunday, cook yourself a big pot of something that will last most or all of the week. Some kind of stew, goulash, soup, casserole. Something that goes with rice or pasta is handy. Boil some rice or pasta enough for a few days. Eat some that night (the Sunday) when it's hot from the cooker/hob, and then put your rice/past into one plastic tub in the fridge, and your "wet/meaty" thing in another large plastic tub, in the fridge, and you know, make friends with the microwave for the rest of the week.......

Sooo tasty, relatively cheap if you just watch what meat you put in (as meat where i am is the dearest thing) veggies cost little i assume same where you are, and this method is time saving.

And the other thing you should do is buy bread, and some sandwich fillers such as:

cheap ham slices or whatever meat thing you wantcheesetomatoes?

whatever you like it's far cheaper to buy ingredients, make up your sandwiches systematically every night before going to bed, and have them during the day at college.

Also I recommend eggs (they are dirt cheap where I am, not sure about you?) and definitely cereal with milk in the morning - but get kind of whole grain, supermarket brand cereal - this might take some scouting before you find something that breaks the perceived rule that cheap is nasty - some supermarket brands are surprisingly healthy+cheap+satisfying once you're used to it and you start to "own" it, cheapest you can get and just suss out for yourself. Also if you can find any deals on at your supermarket or wherever you shop, and you wana make sure you're shopping somewhere cheap too or at least not one of those stupid lovely expensive supermarkets.

I would give you a recipe I love which is fantastic but I'm shy to put it up here... if you would like me to send it to you let me know I'd love to pass it on.

And when you do find a recipe or recipes you fall in love with and wana keep, you have to make it your own, like you own it because you damn well do. Eating out is for brats...but I often have to eat out if I've not had the time to make up sandwiches etc! So you need to be careful that you are consistent with your money saving habits.

And dude I recommend you go to wherever you buy your food and you have a good look around and if you have an arithmetical mind, look at the prices of things you want, and if you need to compare, check the prices and weights to see what is better value. And go for what is cheapest as long as it's not totally crap.

It's in the supermarket where you save the money, not in the kitchen.

And I don't recommend salads too much if you are a time-strapped student because they are too time consuming to prepare and digest with little nutritional input. (calorific value). Trying to sustain yourself on a salad is expensive time wise and money wise, it's grand on occasion but I found personally it was very inefficient. But fruit is great if you can get it cheap because it takes little to no preparation, eat plenty fruit. I recommend stewed/casseroled meat and veg dishes - cooked veggies are far easier to digest than raw things, and once it's made, it's made and you do all the chopping once and then you have dinner sorted for x many days.

I survive on €40 at most a month and I eat like a king - I actually eat too much. (This however does not include if i hurry out the door without a pre-made lunch - then I have to eat out during the day and that costs more of course).

According to a currency converting website that's $53.08

And I believe that food prices in the country where I am are a good bit higher than in the USA (if you are not in the USA I apologise I didn't even check I'm assuming here).

You can live like a king on very little, you just have to be on the ball and get into a routine and develop a little bit of an obsession for saving money - it's all good!

The guy above is right about oatmeal - porridge is great a bit plain but extremely healthy and cheap - buy the cheapest oats you can find - oats are oats, like milk is milk, you won't find a difference between different brands except for stupid needless packaging in the dearer ones.

Rotisserie chicken! Most store sell them for like 5 dollars and you can buy whole wheat bread and make a chicken sandwich for lunch! You will have some left over for dinner to make a chicken salad or just eat the chicken with some rice and some steamed broccoli (microwave to save time). That should save time and make you only waste about 7-8 dollars the whole day. That is not including rice, or lettuce, or onions, or garlic or seasoning since you should already have those because they are pretty essential when cooking.

Or you can go to costco and buy like 5 pounds of chicken breast which is around 10 dollars and marinate the meat with different flavorings for the whole week. Like lemon garlic chicken which is basically easy and cheap to make since all you need is lemon, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. (you can find the recipe anywhere online just google it or go to allrecipe) Other type of chicken: teriyake chicken, steam boiled chicken, Barbeque chicken.

Or you buy cheap cuts of beef like chuck, rib eye, or ground beef extra lean and make a stew or chili out of them. I make a chili with extra ground beef which consist of 1 pound of extra lean beef, 1 table spoon olive oil, salt & pepper, red bell pepper, jalepeno, onion, garlic, 1 can plumed tomato (trader joes) and cumin, cheyene pepper, and peprika. Its pretty easy, all you do is put the table spoon of olive oil into a hot pan, take the meat dumb it into it pan, dumb the veggies into the pan, season it, when it is brown then add the can plum tomato (dice the tamato in the can and add it in), let it sit on medium for 15 mins and you got chili and its pretty healthy. Usually you would have left over for like the next day or you can eat it the whole day.

All of this shouldnt cost you more than 10 dollars to buy. It should be around like 8 bucks if you invest in seasoning and necessary stuff for cooking so you dont have to buy them next time.

Well, I cook.Cooking isn't hard at all, it's cheap, fast (or you can do it while learning) and also pretty handy. E.g. you can just google all of the things you have at home and you're going to find a recipe for it

mindblank saidAnd the other thing you should do is buy bread, and some sandwich fillers such as:

cheap ham slices or whatever meat thing you wantcheesetomatoes?

whatever you like it's far cheaper to buy ingredients, make up your sandwiches systematically every night before going to bed, and have them during the day at college.

Also I recommend eggs (they are dirt cheap where I am, not sure about you?) and definitely cereal with milk in the morning - but get kind of whole grain, supermarket brand cereal - this might take some scouting before you find something that breaks the perceived rule that cheap is nasty - some supermarket brands are surprisingly healthy+cheap+satisfying once you're used to it and you start to "own" it, cheapest you can get and just suss out for yourself. Also if you can find any deals on at your supermarket or wherever you shop, and you wana make sure you're shopping somewhere cheap too or at least not one of those stupid lovely expensive supermarkets.

I would give you a recipe I love which is fantastic but I'm shy to put it up here... if you would like me to send it to you let me know I'd love to pass it on.

And when you do find a recipe or recipes you fall in love with and wana keep, you have to make it your own, like you own it because you damn well do. Eating out is for brats...but I often have to eat out if I've not had the time to make up sandwiches etc! So you need to be careful that you are consistent with your money saving habits.